Manchester United close in on £16.7m January move as Chelsea give green light for player to leave

Welcome to Wednesday’s round-up of some of the biggest new Premier League transfer rumours – and we’ll start things off by taking stock of a couple of stories concerning Manchester United and their likely moves in the January transfer window.

Our first report comes courtesy of Caught Offside, who reckon that the Red Devils have received a boost with the news that Brazilian club Palmeiras are now “ready to consider” selling their star midfielder, Richard Ríos, for as little as €20m (£16.7m) in January.

The 24-year-old Colombian was apparently on United’s summer shortlist and could well represent a budget-friendly way to bolster the midfielder this winter. If they do wish to make a bid, however, they will face stiff competition – Everton, Fulham, Wolverhampton Wanderers and AC Milan have also expressed an interest, according to “sources close to the situation.”

The 3AM Verdict: We have our doubts as to whether United would go for this deal, at least in January, in part because we suspect that the club have done the vast bulk of their spending for the season – but also because other reporting suggests that they will only add to the midfielder after they’ve found someone to take Christian Eriksen off their hands. This may also just be a case of a player who was scouted but never seriously considered as a signing.

United eyeing German wideman

Not that Ríos is the only player being linked with a move to Old Trafford just now – Sport Witness claim, citing a Sky Germany reporter, that Erik ten Hag’s side have also sent the scouts out to watch VfB Stuttgart winger Jamie Leweling, following his impressive start to the season.

The 23-year-old has just been called up to the German national team for the first time, and that seems to have encouraged a lot of the traditional big teams to sit up and take notice, United very much included. Apparently they already sent people to watch him during a recent game against Borussia Dortmund, and he is now “on their list”.

The 3AM Verdict: Leweling has been something of a slow burner, gradually scoring more, setting more up and establishing his reputation in the Bundesliga with three different clubs over the past four years. Still, we’d imagine the big clubs will keep a watching brief for now as his end product isn’t at elite levels just yet, even if he is developing very nicely. We suspect he won’t go anywhere until the summer, and we also suspect that clubs won’t have committed to making him a priority target just yet.

Chelsea give green light for player to go

Few things have a shorter shelf life than a home-grown player at Stamford Bridge, and so it is that Chelsea seem set to let another academy product leave the club – in this case, Carney Chukwuemeka, who has admirers in both Serie A and Saudi Arabia, according to Caught Offside.

Apparently, head coach Enzo Maresca is “ready to let the player leave” having determined that Chukwuemeka isn’t in his plans going forward. Chelsea are apparently looking to sell the player “as soon as possible”, perhaps because they remain concerned about the profit and sustainability situation. That would certainly tally with the claim that they are only looking to move him on on a permanent basis.

The 3AM Verdict: If there is urgency, it implies that the club are genuinely concerned about falling afoul of the Premier League’s spending rules, although the article does suggest that they might be “flexible” about a loan-to-buy deal – if that’s the case, Chelsea fans probably don’t have to worry. AC Milan have been linked in the past, but whether it’s the San Siro or somewhere else, it looks like Chukwuemeka is certainly going somewhere soon.